“There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people,” wrote the late historian Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States.” These words were included in a statement by Pfc. Chelsea Manning after she was sentenced to 35 years in military prison for releasing hundreds of thousands of documents to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

Just after Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday — and before Manning’s announcement of a gender transition earlier today — independent journalist Alexa O’Brien sat down with Manning’s attorney, David Coombs, for his first interview about the case. O’Brien was one of only a handful of journalists to cover the entire Manning trial and was the first to make transcripts of the...

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has been given one year temporary political asylum in Russia. Snowden has reportedly already left the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for over a month. On Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper revealed details about another secret NSA program based on leaked documents provided by Snowden. The program, XKeyscore, allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast...

The sentencing hearing for Army whistleblower Bradley Manning begins today following his acquittal on the most serious charge he faced, aiding the enemy, but conviction on 20 other counts. On Tuesday, Manning was found guilty of violating the Espionage Act and other charges for leaking hundreds of thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks. In beating the "aiding the enemy" charge, Manning avoids an automatic life sentence, but...

Despite being acquitted on his most serious charge of "aiding the enemy," Army Private Bradley Manning still faces up to 136 years in prison for the 20 other counts on which he was convicted. The sentencing phase begins today and is expected to last a week. We speak with independent journalist Alexa O’Brien from outside the courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland, where she has covered the trial daily since it began. O’Brien...

U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning was found guilty today of 20 charges in total, including espionage, but he was acquitted of aiding the enemy, the most serious charge. Michael Ratner, an attorney for WikiLeaks, appeared on the Democracy Now! special broadcast to respond to today’s verdict. [includes rush transcript]

Closing arguments have wrapped in the nearly two-month military trial of Army Private Bradley Manning. The presiding judge, Col. Denise Lind, is now deliberating on 21 charges, including "aiding the enemy." Manning faces up to life in prison for leaking more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks and other news sources, the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history. Over the weekend, protesters in dozens of cities around...